Cops Could Use First Aid to Save Lives. Many Never Try.

[Nevilledog]

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The Marshall Project
@MarshallProj
Our investigation found at least 32 cases since 2010 in which police officers delayed or failed to offer emergency first aid to people who subsequently died from their injuries. In roughly half of these cases, the officers involved remained on the force.

Cops Could Use First Aid to Save Lives. Many Never Try.
Most officers get training to respond to injuries, but are often not required to use it.
themarshallproject.org
12:20 PM · Apr 21, 2021

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/15/cops-could-use-first-aid-to-save-lives-many-never-try

On September 7, 2013, an off-duty Chicago police officer named Kenneth Walker was working security at a public housing project when he got into a scuffle with a visitor—and shot him. “He’s bleeding from the chest, it’s probably critical,” Walker told a 911 dispatcher.

The operator told Walker to cover the wound and keep the man calm. But Walker made no move to help him, security video shows, even as blood began to pool on the sidewalk. Neither did any of the officers who soon arrived on the scene. Instead they stood over Marlon Horton as he gasped for air.

It took more than five minutes for fire department medics to arrive. They took Horton to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

It’s impossible to know what might have happened if Walker had bent down to stanch the bleeding, but emergency first aid can be the difference between life and death. And all too often, officers are not providing it, even when department rules say they should, according to an investigation by Type Investigations and The Marshall Project. Officers are often working with limited training, vague policies, and few consequences for inaction, our reporting found.

To understand how officers are trained in first aid and when they are required to provide it, Type Investigations and The Marshall Project reached out to police departments in the country’s 50 largest cities. Most departments said they give first aid training to police recruits and half of them said they require officers to provide aid whenever possible.

*snip*

[TwilightZone]

1. I don't get why this wouldn't be universal.

"The Marshall Project reached out to police departments in the country’s 50 largest cities. Most departments said they give first aid training to police recruits and half of them said they require officers to provide aid whenever possible."

It seems like a complete no-brainer that they should all be trained and that giving aid should be a requirement at all times. First aid training is almost universally available, often through EMS organizations that would already have existing connections to the departments.

It sounds like many of them rely on said EMS support to provide the aid, but as noted in the article, the few minutes before they arrive is often the key time frame.

[brooklynite]

2. I'm guessing "off-duty" is the answer...

Not sure if good samaritan exclusions would apply.

[Throck]

3. I've taken basic and wilderness first aid courses.

High school and college. Why isn't basic first aid taught to everyone universally as an educational mandate? Everyone should step up to take care of their brothers and sisters.

[frazzled]

4. Not what I saw from the Chicago cop

who shot the kid with the gun recently. Gets report of gunshots around 2:30 am. Arrives on scene with partner and jumps out to chase kid running away. Kid stops and turns around to throw gun behind fence. In less than a second, he turns back with hands up as cop discharges gun. Tragedy. Too fast. Horrible to see.

Cop runs to kid, asking where he’s hurt and lifts shirt to check. Immediately reports “shooting by police, send medical team.” Whole time he’s saying “Stay with me, buddy. Stay awake.” Quickly realizes there’s no time to wait for medics, and announces “I’m going to start compression.” He’s on ground and performs CPR frantically and repeatedly, until others tell him to stop because it’s no use, and they lift him up.

You are seeing all this through cop’s body cam, which is now just pointing to the ground as he is stooped over and finally stooping down. You can hear the breathing. Partner comes over and tells him he should sit down. Body cam heaves as he’s bent over. End as more people arrive on scene.

This was horrific to watch, but it was not Derek Chauvin and George Floyd. It was tragic for Adam Toledo, and it honestly felt tragic for the cop. He acted too soon in a split-second event, and he shouldn’t have. But he seems to have done everything he could, and everything by the book. He seemed truly upset. Though one can’t know if it was for the kid or for himself. Maybe it was both.

But he did know how to perform CPR, and he did it immediately.